The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Book of the Dead, an ancient Egyptian collection of spells intended to assist the journey of the deceased through the underworld.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the text and context of The Book of the Dead, also known as the Book of Coming Forth by Day, the ancient Egyptian collections of spells which were intended to help the recently deceased navigate the underworld. They flourished under the New Kingdom from C16th BC until the end of the Ptolemaic era in C1st BC, and drew on much earlier traditions from the walls of pyramids and on coffin cases. Almost 200 spells survive, though no one collection contains all of them, and one of the best known surrounds the weighing of the heart, the gods' final judgement of the deceased's life.
With
John Taylor
Curator at the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum
Kate Spence
Senior Lecturer in Egyptian Archaeology at Cambridge University and Fellow of Emmanuel College
and
Richard Parkinson
Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford and Fellow of the Queen's College
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Last on
Clip
![]()
The weighing of the heart
Duration: 02:40
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
Richard Parkinson at the University of Oxford
Kate Spence at the University of Cambridge
John Taylor at the British Museum
The Dead Book Project Bonn – Universitat Bonn
READING LIST:
Thomas George Allen, The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day: Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians Concerning the Hereafter as Expressed in Their Own Terms (University of Chicago Press, 1974)
Jan Assmann (trans. David Lorton), Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt (Cornell University Press, 2005)
R. O. Faulkner (trans.), The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day (Chronicle Books, 1994)
Barry Kemp, How to Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead (Granta Books, 2007)
Stephen Quirke, Going out in Daylight - prt m hrw: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Translation, Sources, Meaning (Golden House Publications, 2013)
John H. Taylor, Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (University of Chicago Press, 2001)
John H. Taylor (ed.), Journey Through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (British Museum Press, 2010)
John H. Taylor, Spells for Eternity: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (British Museum Press, 2010)
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Interviewed Guest | John Taylor |
| Interviewed Guest | Kate Spence |
| Interviewed Guest | Richard Parkinson |
| Producer | Simon Tillotson |
Broadcasts
- Thu 27 Apr 201709:00BBC Radio 4
- Thu 27 Apr 201721:30BBC Radio 4
Featured in...
![]()
Ancient Egypt—In Our Time
Browse the Ancient Egyptian era within the In Our Time archive.
![]()
History—In Our Time
Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
If you’re new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.
Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.
Podcast
![]()
In Our Time
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
